Initial D: The McRae stage
by Racer XR2
Summary: Could a chance encounter on Akina be the push Takumi needs to leave the streets behind.
1. Prologue

Initial D: The McRae Stage

Prologue

The final battle of Project D was sadly the end for the 86, pushed further than it had before in order to win the 20V 4AGE met its ultimate destruction, in order to win the race Takumi was forced to push the engine past its destruction point, and although the race was won the engine would never run again, a slight variance in the casting of the crankshaft, never previously an issue as the engine had not been pushed so high up into the rev range made itself known sadly ending the life of the great racing engine.


	2. Chapter 1

\- 3 weeks later -

Takumi wound his way home, driving the Impreza owned by his father, Bunta. The nightly delivery of Tofu had gone as smoothly as ever.

The 86 was not scrap but it would never attack a mountain pass again. The forces exerted on the chassis during its final race had ensured that. As he drove Takumi pondered what a suitable replacement for the 86 would be.

Ryosuke had repeatedly offered to replace the 86,

"I owe it to you, it was my call alone which resulted in the death of the 86"

Every time Takumi had replied

"Don't be ridiculous, no one forced me to rev it as far as I did, I knew that it would result in the death of the engine but it was the only way to win, I appreciate the offer but it isn't your fault. I can't accept a car from you."

In the end Ryosuke had given up, it was clear the Fujiwara was never going to accept, it just wasn't his character, that didn't however, mean he couldn't use connections to find out what cars Fujiwara had been testing and ensure that he only got the best deal.

Takumi had been surprised at the car buying process, having never bought a car before it was all new. Every single car dealership that Takumi had spoken to had been extremely accommodating,

"Of course Mr Fujiwara, anything that we can do to help just ask, whatever car you want to trial, say the word and it is yours for as little or as long as you want."

It was only after the third dealership had acted in exactly the same way that Takumi began to suspect that someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.

The sound of a backfiring exhaust suddenly pulled Takumi out of his day dreaming. A car was catching up to the Impreza very quickly.

Takumi glanced down at the speedometer, he hadn't slowed down. This new arrival was travelling at extreme speed, speed he had only seen in his toughest rivals.

"What car is that? It doesn't look domestic"

"Whatever it is, I'm going to let it pass, I'll follow them and see how fast they really are"

Takumi backed off the throttle of the Impreza and indicated to the left.

"So you want a show do you" the new arrival mutters to himself.

Takumi was right when he identified the car as not being produced for the Japanese market. The car was about the size of a Civic EG6, a hatchback, FF drivetrain. The deep black paintwork was filled with specs of gold every time a street light hit it.

This car was definitely far from standard, Takumi could only compare the sound coming from under the bonnet to that of the 86's original engine but at the same time it seemed so much more powerful.

As the hatchback streaked past Takumi couldn't help but notice massive Brembo callipers shoehorned under the 15 inch wheels. Another sign the car wasn't standard was given every time the driver backed off the throttle. Flames exploded from the exhaust with the sound of a gunshot each and every time the throttle was lifted completely.

The car had 2 badges, one was in the shape of a diamond and the other simply read RS.

"Let's go!" Takumi shouted, shifting down to put the Impreza into its power band, a huge flame belching from its exhaust thanks to the sudden increase of fuel being pumped into the cylinders.

There was a momentary delay which every turbo car has as the turbo spools up and then it surged forward rapidly closing the gap between the two cars.

The two cars closed into the sharp left at breakneck speeds, both drivers leaving it until the last possible moment to stand on the brakes, the black hatchback, thanks to its smaller size and lower weight was able to leave the braking a fraction of a second later, that fraction of a second however was enough for a Gap to begin to form.

The next section of the course benefitted the challenger, and both drivers knew this. The Impreza, as amazing a machine as it was had one drawback, its 4wd system was heavy, this meant that no matter how well driven, push too hard for a few consecutive turns and it would start to overheat its front tyres, Takumi had become accustomed to driving around this normally however with a Challenger of this calibre knew that it would only be a matter of time before his ability to drive around the issue ran out, no matter who was driving the car the physical limitations still exist.

Takumi cursed as his challenger managed to pull ahead a slightly bigger gap after each turn. It wasn't enough that it was impossible to claw back and had he been in the 86 that Gap wouldn't have existed, the next opportunity was the short straight before the 5 consecutive hairpins.

Takumi used the full advantage of the Impreza's power to claw back the Gap that had formed and entering the hairpins, attacking with vigour that he hadn't had since long before the destruction of the 86.

Both cars entered the first of 5 hairpin turns at a speed rivalling the speed Takumi had achieved on his record breaking run at Akina's downhill.

The challenger (A RenaultSport Clio 182, not that Takumi knew this) dived into the first hairpin at a speed only an experienced racer could manage, Takumi realised that at the very moment of entry there was a slight hint of understeer developing, the Renault was beginning to wear its front tyres. The Impreza suffered a similar issue however because of its 4wd system was able to push the back end not enough to eliminate this completely but enough to give an advantage.

Realising this Takumi began to push the Impreza to the limits of its mechanical grip, the tyres screaming at the torture they were receiving.

"That's more like it, I thought you were slacking on me" laughed the Renault driver as he pushed even harder into the next corner.

The gap which had on previous corners opened out began to close through each hairpin turn.

Darting into the last hairpin both drivers again got hard on the brakes, the effects of such an extreme battle were beginning to show on the lightly modified Impreza, as Takumi pressed the brakes the feel of the pedal changed ever so slightly, the brake fluid was beginning to boil and the brakes were losing their potency.

Both cars exited the hairpins at maximum speed, Takumi realised that the next corner would present the opportunity to pass providing he was able to keep just enough speed to stay in the power band of the Impreza upon exiting the corner.

Just as Takumi prepared to make the pass the hazards of the other car began to flash and the brake lights lit up as the nose of the car dove to the ground. Takumi instantly mirrored the actions of the other car.

Both cars rounded the corner coming to a halt just after, stopped in the middle of the road was a pickup truck which was in the process of being loaded onto a recovery truck, at the speed the two cars have been travelling mere moments before they would have been unable to avoid the obstruction had the driver of the Renault not caught a glimpse of the flashing amber lights.

The Impreza and the Renault slowly made their way past the obstruction and continued to the base of the mountain pass at a gentle cruise.

"I want to talk to this guy, he's quick!" Takumi muttered as they pulled up to the junction marking the end of the Pass,

Takumi pulled alongside the Renault and wound down his window. The driver of the Renault also wound down his window, as with his car, he clearly wasn't of Japanese origin.

"That was fun, if it wasn't quite so late I'd stop and chat but I've just realised I need to be at work very soon and can't be late, I'm sure I'll see you about."

A thud as the Renault engaged first gear only reinforced the special modifications that it had received.

Takumi sat there bemused as the driver of the Renault indicated right and took off through the green light marking that it was safe to proceed through the junction.

"Weird" Takumi stated glancing at the clock "Guess I better get back myself".

Takumi put the Impreza into first and gently pulled away from the junction.


	3. Chapter 2

The next morning

"I've never seen one before, it definitely wasn't domestic"

"What did it look like?" asked Iketani,

"It was about the size of an EG6, the front and rear badge were in the shape of a diamond and it had RS on the boot lid, the driver definitely wasn't Japanese but was extremely fluent."

"I've heard of these, I know of one or two of these in Japan, but none active in the racing scene, in Europe they are raced with great success, in fact there is even a racing series dedicated to them."

Takumi looked extremely intrigued, "What is it?" looking more and more curious.

"They are sold in Japan as the Lutecia but in their domestic market they are called the Clio, it sounds like this one you encountered was one of the Special RenaultSport versions, the chassis was taken from the production line of the regular version, a few pieces of trim remain the same but that is where the similarities end.

In place of the tiny engines which would normally be found in the Clio, a 2 litre engine was installed, the first versions produced 172hp from the factory with the later ones producing 182hp, the 182hp versions can be defined by their twin exhausts protruding from the rear bumper"

"That's what this one had. Something seemed off with it though." Takumi interrupted.

"How do you mean?" Iketani asked.

"The speed it could carry through the corners was incredible, there was virtually no roll and it only started to understeer after carrying through the hairpins at maximum attack. Its braking power was incredible as well, I would have struggled to outbrake it in the 86 let alone the Impreza, the front brakes were massive and had Brembo emblazed on them.

There was one other thing I noticed though"

"What was that?" Queried Iketani,

"As he pulled off after our brief conversation when he engaged the gear to pull away there was a loud thud like a high spec race car would make."

"Hmm odd, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for it, a car like that can't be hard to miss."

Meanwhile at the Fujiwara Tofu Store.

"Hi, fried Tofu please."

"Of course" replied Bunta, "that'll be 300 yen please."

"Perfect thank you, I couldn't help but notice the Impreza outside, I encountered that same car on Mount Akina last night driven by someone who greatly resembled a younger version of yourself."

Bunta pondered for a moment "Yes that will have been my son driving it, it is used for the Tofu deliveries", Bunta sniggered to himself, "Hopefully he didn't inconvenience you too much"

"Quite the contrary, it was refreshing to come across someone with his level of expertise, would you be able to pass him my number, I'd be very interested in meeting up with him at some point and exchanging notes"

"What name shall I give him?"

"McRae, Joshua McRae"

"Fujiwara Bunta, pleasure to meet you"

As the Black Renault Clio pulled away from the store Bunta pondered, "McRae… I wonder" a devilish grin spreading across his normally straight face.

'If I'm right in my thinking, Takumi may have finally encountered someone who is going to give him a challenge greater than even Joushima, if he comes out on top of this encounter then he is finally ready to leave the streets behind.'

A few hours later Takumi arrived home after a day of working at the petrol station.

"Hi Dad, I'm home"

"I had an interesting encounter earlier on son, a customer advised me that he encountered you on Akina last night and wants to meet up to exchange notes. He left me his number and said to give him a call."

"Well that saves me looking for him I guess" Takumi muttered

"One more thing Takumi"

"Huh?"

"I think I've found a car you might like; it should be arriving any minute now"

As if on cue the sound of a large vehicle pulling up outside the shop can be heard.

Both Bunta and Takumi make their way out into the street to be greeted by a liveried lorry.

"Toyota Racing Development" Takumi exclaimed "Dad what've you done?"

"I've pulled a few strings, I may not have been completely truthful when I said I was going to the town council meetings, a former rival from my days as a racer, now the head development engineer on a new car Toyota have been working on called me and asked if I would come and help them test a new car, I accepted on the basis that if it went ahead the first one to roll off the assembly line would be mine to do as I wish."

"Why would Toyota give you a car?"

"They may have owed me a few favours because of previous development work I have done for them".

"Ah Bunta! I take it this is your boy Takumi?"

"Tetsuya, he is indeed." Bunta turned to Takumi "I'd like you to meet Tetsuya Tada, the lead development engineer on the ehem… new car"

"Bunta we've made the changes that you requested from standard, I hope it is able to meet all of your requirements…

Lower the loading deck"

"Loading deck lowering" the worker replied

As the rear deck opened Takumi felt his jaw drop at what he saw inside, sporting a livery identical to that of his old 86 was a brand new GT86, the new hachi-roku.

"It… it's beautiful!" Takumi stammered

"Bunta, would you like to do the honours?" Tetsuya asked

Pulling Tetsuya to the side out of earshot of Takumi Bunta stated "As much as I would love to it isn't for me to do, this is my last gift to Takumi to help him achieve his ultimate goal, this could well be his last challenge as a street racer, 20 years of hard work come down to one final race, the race that will decide the boy's destiny as a racer."

"I understand Bunta, I just want you to know that if he decides to go professional then we are going to be down a driver at the end of this year, our number one is retiring and having seen how Takumi drives I think he would be perfect to fill the empty slot."

"We will have to see what happens, a race is going to happen soon, he doesn't know when and neither does his rival but it is bound to happen, it is going to push both drivers to their limits, if Takumi wins, that is when he will be ready to accept an offer, if he loses he is too stubborn, he would never acknowledge that he was ready"

"I suppose we probably shouldn't keep him waiting much longer Bunta"

Bunta sniggered "I guess not, he'll be chomping at the bit to get in it and drive it"

Wandering back to where Takumi was waiting Tetsuya was the first to speak.

"Takumi, if you want to jump in and get everything adjusted to suit you we can begin to unload it"

Without a word Takumi was in the GT86 in a flash

"Eager isn't he" sniggered Bunta

"Back it out slowly" the worker shouted while guiding Takumi to ensure he didn't go back too far

The ramp moved slightly as the full weight of the GT86 came to rest on it and then began lower as the worker pressed the button to do so.

"Ramp down and locked, begin reversing"

Following the instruction given by the worker Takumi backed the GT86 off the ramp and onto the street, its spotless paintwork sparkling under the street lights.

Tetsuya approached the drivers' window which Takumi promptly wound down

"Go take her for a spin, don't worry about the paperwork, your father and I will have that all sorted out by the time you return, don't be afraid to push it either, we ran the engine in and performed its first service while setting the car to your father's specifications.

The higher ups wouldn't approve of the changes we've made but what they don't know doesn't hurt them, besides, as fantastic as the standard car is, this one is a completely different beast."

"Thank you" Takumi stated before engaging first and pulling away, heading off into the night towards Mount Akina.

"He's going to be gone for a while isn't he Bunta?"

"Yeah, he's going to be driving that thing all night, you brought spare tyres right?"

"Of course I did"

"Good it's going to need them"


	4. Chapter 3

A few hours later the screech of tyres can be heard on Mount Akina

"This thing is amazing, its feel is similar to that of my 86, but where my 86 felt more and more tired with every race this feels so tight, the chassis has virtually no flex in it, it has much more grip attacking the corners and I can pull my lines tighter than I ever could in the 86"

Takumi threw the GT86 into the corners of Mount Akina faster than he had ever been able to in the 86; the levels of grip the car was capable of were phenomenal.

"Because of the stiffness of the chassis I'm able to get on the throttle so much sooner than I could in the 86 and I don't have to worry about the chassis flexing and ruining my line."

As Takumi approached the point which marked the beginning of the downhill stage he noticed in one of the pull in points the Black Clio of Josh McRae with the bonnet up and steam pouring out of the front of the car.

Takumi pulled up to the front of the Clio and exited the car, leaving his headlights on to provide extra light.

McRae, realising who it was exited the Clio and acknowledged the new arrival.

"Fancy meeting you here" McRae sniggered

"What's happened to your car?" Takumi asked

"Ah nothing too bad, I came round a corner a bit too fast and didn't have time to react to a tree Branch which was sticking out into the road, it's punctured my radiator hence the steam."

"That's not good, is it ok to drive?"

"Wouldn't want to risk it, the annoying thing is I've got a spare radiator at my workshop but there is no way the car would make it back without overheating."

"I can take you if you'd like, I've got no plans this evening so I can help you fix your car."

"If you could that would be amazing."

"Yeah don't worry about it what so ever" Takumi stated walking towards the open door of the GT86

McRae followed suit walking to the passenger side of the car.

'This is nice' McRae thought to himself 'He must have powerful connections to get one of these so early, they aren't available to the general public yet and this one has been extensively modified already.'

After opening the door McRae lowered himself into the TRD branded bucket seat on the passenger side of the car.

"This is rather nice, I'd love to meet the person you know who was able to get their hands on one of these before they are available to the general public, even more so to be able to so extensively modify a car which hasn't even been supplied to customers yet"

"You already have, apparently my father has been working as a development driver for Toyota and has taken this car in Lieu of payment."

Half an hour later Takumi pulls up outside the shutter door which is the entrance to Joshua's workshop.

"I'll open the main door, if you want to turn around there is room for you to back in, saves carrying parts and tools further than we have to."

McRae exits the car and walks towards a door just to the side of the shutter door; Takumi uses the available space to turn the GT86 around so that he is able to reverse through the gap no longer occupied by the shutter door.

"I'll close the door for the moment. I've got to remember where the spare radiator is anyway. Sorry about the mess, I've not had chance to organise things yet since my stuff arrived from England"

"No worries, this is an amazing workshop you've got here." Takumi said looking around in awe.

"Thank you" McRae said absolutely beaming. "It's nothing compared to the setup I had back home. But unlike back home this belongs to me and not my parents.

If you have a look through that roller door over there you'll find my small collection of cars, there are a couple of ex race cars and a few road cars. I've had to use my Clio on the road until I've found a suitable day to day car."

Takumi walked over to the roller door and pulled it open, the fluorescent lights flicked before fully igniting.

"This guy has got some money" Takumi exclaimed with a shocked look on his face.

In front of him were 5 cars, each one special in their own way.

The first car Takumi recognised was of course the AE86, liveried up as a race car, it looked very similar to his old AE86, a peak under the bonnet confirmed his suspicions, it was an Ex Group A race car meaning it shared the same engine as his old 86.

Next was an FD RX7, it was fitted with the same extreme RE Amemiya kit as Keisuke's RX7, this one however was White with Black wheels and a Carbon Fibre bonnet.

A dark blue Datsun 240Z lurked next to the RX7, it looked extremely menacing but welcoming at the same time, Takumi shuddered as his gaze passed across it, that car had a dark aura to it.

The next car was easily recognisable as a Nissan Skyline R34 GTR similar to that of Kozo Hoshino (God Foot), as Takumi looked over the Skyline he realised it was the Ultra Rare 'Z Tune' edition, something barely seen anywhere in the world even Japan.

The final car was something even more special than the others. It was a Bright Blue Subaru Impreza, the same shape as his father's car. However the body was much wider adorned with the Subaru WRC livery from the late 90s and inside was a full roll cage.

As Takumi gazed at the Subaru in awe he didn't realise that Joshua McRae had entered the room

"Your eyes aren't deceiving you, that is an ex Subaru WRC car. My uncle drove it to second place in the World Rally championship in 1997. The car was given to him by Subaru as a gift when he left the team at the end of the 1998 season.

When he passed away I was left this car as well as a sum of money which has allowed me to add the other cars to my collection.

I guess being the nephew of a WRC Champion has its perks. I'd give it all up though just to have him back though. He taught me everything I know about driving." The smile faded from Joshua's face as he told Takumi about the origins of his collection.

"I'm sorry" Takumi said glumly "I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

"Thank you…" McRae replied sounding slightly more upbeat.

"Right we better get back to Akina, I've managed to find the radiator, some coolant and my tools so I've wrapped them up and put them into the back of your car, Shouldn't take us too long."

Half an hour later Takumi again pulled up the GT86 in front of McRae's Clio, leaving the headlights set to main beam as they both exited the car.

Josh straight away pressed the button on the key fob to unlock the car and pulled open the drivers' door and activated the headlights to give even more light.

After doing so he came round to the front of the car and pulled open the 4 pins holding the bonnet onto the car.

"Takumi could you grab the bonnet for me please, don't worry its carbon fibre so it isn't heavy."

Takumi picked up the painted carbon fibre bonnet and gently placed it onto the grass next to the car.

Turning back around he saw that McRae had already removed the pipework going into the radiator and was beginning to unbolt the mounts holding the radiator into the car.

"Shouldn't take me long at all, I can't run a slam panel because of my Throttle bodies so the radiator is literally held in with these two brackets that fasten to the headlight mounting points and two rubber feet underneath that wedge into place on the subframe."

Moments after his explanation to Takumi Joshua lifted out the damaged radiator.

"Just as I thought, the branch has stabbed straight through the core. I'll throw this onto the scrap pile when I get back to my workshop."

After swapping the rubber feet onto the new radiator Joshua then placed it back into position on the subframe and reattached the mounts which held it in place.

Once this was done he then reconnected the pipework and as soon as that was done began to refill the coolant.

He turned to Takumi and held out his key "Takumi please could you get in and start the engine for me please. Just make sure it shows Neutral before starting the engine."

Takumi walked towards the drivers' door of the Clio and after opening it lowered himself into the bucket seat. Turning the key in the ignition the gear indicator in the centre of the instrument cluster glowed with a reassuring N.

"Ok I'm starting the engine"

Turning the key the car fired a few times until the engine caught, seeing the revs stutter slightly Takumi gave a small blip of the throttle which gave a satisfying roar from the front of the car and allowed the car to settle at its idle RPM.

Over the sound of the idling engine McRae shouted "That's perfect, keep an eye on the temperature gauge, I'll keep adding coolant once the thermostat opens until its topped up to its correct level."

"No problem" Takumi shouted in return

Several minutes passed before the revs began to drop indicating that the thermostat had opened. Joshua added more coolant until the level settled half way between the minimum and maximum marks on the expansion tank.

"Ok you can switch it off now" shouted Joshua.

With that Takumi turned the key shutting off the engine to the Clio.

"Thank you so much for your help. I honestly have no idea what I would have done otherwise."

"That's no problem whatsoever" Takumi responded "I could never leave someone in a bad situation, as I would hope if I were in similar circumstances they would do the same for me."

"I really respect that, it's something which is really missing in this world…

I want to say thank you. I've seen you drive and I know you are ridiculously talented. I saw the way you were looking at my Uncle's Subaru, how would you feel about taking it on a downhill run of Mount Akina?

I've not got time tonight and I imagine you probably want to get home too. Meet me here on Saturday night, is about 10pm ok?"

"Yeah that's fine"

"Awesome, I'll see you on Saturday night. I'm excited to see what you can do in a World Rally Car considering how you drove in your father's car."

Twenty Minutes later Takumi reversed the GT86 into the parking spot next to the Impreza.

"Hi Dad, I'm back"

"Had fun then I take it?" Bunta responded

"The car is amazing! The amount of grip it has is unreal.

I hadn't planned to be out this late however, on my final run back up the mountain I encountered Joshua McRae at the summit, he had punctured the radiator on his car so I took him back to his workshop to get spare parts and then helped him to repair it at the roadside."

"That's fine, I was planning on doing the Tofu run tonight anyway, I've made a few tweaks to the Impreza and wanted to try them out"

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, I'm driving a Subaru he owns next Saturday night. He said his uncle was a World Rally Champion and that the car was given to him when his uncle passed away."

With that Takumi left the room.

Bunta sniggered "So he finally gets to see what a real competition car is like. If this doesn't help him make the leap to professional racing then nothing will."


	5. Chapter 4

"Joshua… Your uncle… There has been an accident… I'm so sorry."

"NO!" Joshua screamed, as he was suddenly ripped from his nightmare.

Pulling himself out of bed Joshua slowly walked over to the shutter door separating his living space from his collection of cars.

"I need to go for a drive, I should probably take the Impreza, make sure everything is working on it for Saturday."

Clambering into the Impreza Joshua turned the Electrical Cut off switch and then began the sequence to start the World Rally Car.

After a few moments the engine snarled into life, like a wild beast annoyed to have been woken. The Sequential gearbox let off a loud thud as Joshua put the car into first and crept towards the workshop area of his unit, squeezing between the 2 post lift and his Clio which was parked as far back in the workshop as possible.

Pulling the car to a stop and placing the gearbox into Neutral he clambered out over the roll cage, walking to and pulling the chain to open the shutter door. Once the door was opened wide enough to allow the Impreza to pass under Joshua jumped back into the car and once again engaged first to creep under the partially open shutter door.

Once clear of the Shutter door Joshua again pulled the car to a stop and engaged Neutral before climbing out, this time to close and lock the shutter door. Finally free of having to exit the car Joshua climbed back in and adjusted the harness so that he was held in firmly.

Selecting first Joshua trickled the Impreza away from his unit and pulled out onto the road, seeing that the car had a full tank of fuel instead of heading to Mt Akina Joshua turned the opposite direction and headed towards Mt Akagi.

A short while later on Mt Akagi the high pitched whine of a heavily modified Rotary engine can be heard, very quickly followed by the flash of yellow that was Keisuke's RE Amemiya FD RX7.

After rounding the last corner of the downhill course Keisuke slowed the RX7 to a crawl ready to turn into the car park at the base of Mt Akagi. Before he was able to do so he saw lights approaching from the opposite direction.

"That looks like a Subaru; I'm surprised to see another racer on the mountain at this time. They have usually all finished for the night which is why I've been staying out this late to practice."

As the Subaru drew closer Keisuke realised what he was seeing wasn't the car belonging to a street racer, it was a car which belonged on the stages of the World Rally Championship.

"What the hell! Why is there a WRC car on Mt Akagi?" Keisuke questioned out loud.

"I wonder what it's doing here"

The Subaru drew to a stop initially with a smooth idle however a few moments after coming to a halt the sound of the engine changed, the revs became erratic and the sound of constant backfiring was emitted from the exhaust.

"He's going to attack the course!" Keisuke exclaimed, with a look of alarm on his face

The thud from the gearbox as the driver of the Subaru selected first gear indicated that the show was about to start, Keisuke had managed to spin the RX7 around in the entrance of the car park ready to give chase.

The revs on the Subaru rose as the launch control built the boost up allowing as quick of a getaway as possible. The moment the boost reached maximum the driver of the Impreza released the clutch, allowing it to explode away from the line in an extremely violent manner.

Keisuke pushed his RX7 as hard as he could manage to try and match the ferocious acceleration of the WRC Impreza. Flames exploded from the exhausts of both cars as massive amounts of unburnt fuel were dumped into the exhaust systems.

As hard as Keisuke pushed his RX7 he simply couldn't match the speed of the Subaru. While it was limited to 300hp, less than that of Keisuke's RX7, the short gearing meant the car was capable of extreme acceleration, on top of this it was also much lighter than the FD with every gram of unnecessary weight having been shaved from the car, even to the extent of bolts having been shaved to their minimum possible size.

After 3 corners all Keisuke could see of the Impreza was a brief glimpse of its rear lights as the driver barely tapped the brakes before throwing the car into the next corner. After the fourth corner Keisuke could no longer even catch a glimpse of the Subaru.

"This is insane, if that thing challenges anyone who runs the street, even Fujiwara they would be humiliated!"

As Keisuke exited the second to last corner the lights of the Subaru were visible coming back the opposite way, the driver having completed the uphill of Akagi in record time.

After reaching the summit Keisuke didn't even attempt to catch up to the Subaru knowing it was futile and instead cruised back down before heading home for the night.

Something extremely rare happened at the Takahashi household…

Ryosuke looked shocked.

"You're telling me that a WRC Impreza was attacking both the uphill and downhill courses of Akagi last night?" Ryosuke questioned.

"Yes brother, my eyes weren't deceiving me, it was a late 90s WRC spec Impreza, I pushed my FD as hard as possible but by the time I reached the second to last corner he was already coming the other way."

"Of course, what they lack in power they make up everywhere else. It will have been lighter, had better aero, better suspension, a better chassis and don't forget, a highly advanced four wheel drive system." Ryosuke took a deep breath. "We just have to hope that the driver doesn't want to challenge anyone using that car, even Fujiwara wouldn't be able to catch it."

"Fujiwara!" Keisuke exclaimed. "We have to warn him!"

Ryosuke picked up the phone and dialled the number for the Fujiwara Tofu Shop. After a few moments the call was answered by Bunta.

"Fujiwara Tofu Store"

"Hello Mr Fujiwara, it's Ryosuke Takahashi, is Takumi available?"

"Not currently, would you like me to take a message?"

"Yes please, could you let him know that there is a car which appears to be tackling mountain passes that even he can't defeat"

Bunta sniggered "Let me guess, it's an Impreza WRC car?"

Ryosuke seemingly shocked replied "How did you know?"

"It belongs to a new acquaintance of his. He's driving it on Akina this Saturday."

"You're kidding?" Ryosuke exclaimed, the shock apparent in his voice.

"Fortunately not, he didn't tell me what time but I'd say 10PM onwards is a safe bet, that's normally what time races run at Akina."

"Thank you Mr Fujiwara. That is very interesting information that you have given me."

With that Ryosuke ended the call.

"Brother what's wrong?" Keisuke asked worried.

"Looks like we are going to Akina on Saturday, apparently Fujiwara is going to be driving that car that you witnessed run at Akagi last night.

"What!" Keisuke exclaimed. "You mean to say Fujiwara is going to be attacking the downhill of Akina in a Subaru WRC Car?"

"Yes, this should be interesting to watch" Ryosuke sniggered, 'I wonder what Fujiwara will be capable of in such a monster' he thought to himself.


	6. Chapter 5

"Is that a Z Tune!?" Itsuki exclaimed as the Grey R34 GTR pulled into the forecourt of the petrol station.

Hearing those words Takumi turned around to see Joshua McRae pulling his skyline to a halt next to the petrol pump.

Seeing Takumi Josh's face lit up. "Takumi! I didn't realise you worked here. This is the only place locally that sells the right fuel for the Skyline."

Looking confused Itsuki turned to Takumi. "Takumi how do you know the owner of an R34 Z Tune, do you know how expensive these are?"

"Yeah, he's got a few cars. I met him on the downhill of Mt Akina and then helped him to fix his car after his radiator was punctured."

'Wow' Itsuki thought 'Takumi helping to fix a car, that's not something I ever thought would happen.'

Itsuki turned to Joshua, "This is a stunning car, how did you come to own it?"

A massive grin spread across Josh's face "I bought it with some of the money left to me by my uncle. I really don't use it enough to justify having it, don't get me wrong I'll never sell it but it still upsets me to see it sat there, that's why I've pulled it out." Joshua pondered for a moment. "What time do you two get off work?"

"About 5:30" Takumi replied.

"Ok that's not too long, don't suppose you would be up for coming to Tokyo with me? I'm taking the Skyline to a friend there for a few tweaks."

"You mean we would get to ride in a Z Tune!" Itsuki exclaimed,

"Well how else are you going to get there?" Josh laughed.

"This is amazing!" Itsuki turned to Takumi "We have to go, it's not every day you get to ride in a Skyline Z Tune!"

"Let me check with my father to see if he is ok with me missing the delivery for tonight."

With that Takumi wandered into the shop attached to the petrol station and picked up the phone.

The phone rang for a few moments before being answered.

"Fujiwara Tofu Store"

"Dad, is it ok if I miss the Tofu delivery tonight, Joshua McRae has invited me to go to a garage in Tokyo with him while he has some work done on his Skyline."

"That's fine, I'm still trying to finalise my tweaks to the Impreza so have no issue with that."

"Awesome, I'll see you tomorrow."

Takumi wandered back out onto the forecourt, in his absence a crowd of Speed Stars members had gathered round the Z Tune. Joshua was showing an awestruck Iketani the engine bay of the Skyline.

Takumi tapped Joshua on the shoulder to get his attention. "I've spoken to my dad and he has said I am ok to miss the Tofu delivery so we can come to Tokyo"

"Awesome" Josh exclaimed, "I'll pick you up at 5:30 then. I've just got a few errands to run."

Turning to the crowd of gathered Speed Stars Josh announced "Gotta go now I'm afraid guys, tell you what, I'm running on Akina this Saturday at 10PM in another car of mine, I'll bring the Skyline too, let you have a proper look round it and you can see it in action."

With that he stepped into the Skyline and turned the key firing up the Modified RB26DETT. He gave a quick blip of the throttle before selecting first and pulling out into the road before flooring the throttle and accelerating away from the petrol station.

Itsuki could barely contain his excitement the closer the clock got to 5:30, both Itsuki and Takumi had been given permission by their manager to finish a few minutes early so that they could be ready to leave when Joshua arrived.

Just before the clock struck 5:30 the sound of a tuned RB26DETT could be heard decelerating as it approached the petrol station. Joshua slowed to a crawl to turn into the forecourt before pulling into one of the parking spaces to the left of the pumps.

Upon hearing the sound of the Skyline Itsuki exploded out of the doors to the shop nearly sprinting towards the now parked Skyline, Takumi followed shortly after.

Seeing the pair Joshua started to wander over to the shop, "Just going to grab a couple of snacks, make yourself comfortable". Without turning around Josh threw the keys in the direction of where Takumi was stood, "You're driving Takumi, I've got to do some data logging of the ECU so would rather have someone else driving while I do so."

Pushing open the door to the shop Joshua made a beeline towards the confectionary isle, after making a satisfactory number of tasty selections he wandered over towards the till to make payment for the snacks.

Meanwhile Takumi was making himself comfortable in the driver seat of the Skyline, Itsuki was sat in the rear seat of the Skyline,

"Takumi! This is amazing, not only do we get to ride in a Z Tune but you get to drive it!" Itsuki exclaimed.

Takumi sniggered "Just wait until you see what I'm driving on Saturday"

Before Itsuki could say any more Joshua opened the passenger door of the skyline and deposited a bag full of junk food in the passenger foot well of the Skyline.

"What? I've not eaten all day. Besides it isn't all for me. My friend who is working on the car is having most of it."

Moving around to the back of the car Josh opened the boot and pulled a laptop out before moving back around to the passenger side of the car. After sitting down in the Passenger seat he then reached under the dashboard and pulled out a diagnostic cable which he then plugged into the side of the laptop.

"Ok we're ready to go, when I said it is in Tokyo I wasn't quite accurate, it's a couple of junctions before Tokyo, she's lending us a car though so we'll actually go into Tokyo, I've been meaning to see what the racing scene is about there, apparently that 240Z of mine is quite famous there.

Takumi turned the key bringing the Skyline to life, selecting first he pulled out of the petrol station slowly and once on the road accelerated up to the speed limit.

A few minutes later they were pulling onto the Highway to take them towards Tokyo.

"Ok Takumi there is a couple of tests my mate wants me to run before we get there. Just straight line stuff. I'll fire up the test program and let you know when we are ready to begin.

After a few minutes of tapping away Joshua turned to Takumi, "Ok we are ready to begin. If you could slow down to 50KPH in fourth gear and then hold it there until I say to floor it."

Following the instructions given Takumi slowed the Skyline to 50KPH, after 15 seconds Joshua then turned to Takumi, "Ok now floor it, we need to take it all the way up to the rev limiter." On this command Takumi planted the throttle of the Skyline, after a slightly delay while the boost built up the skyline started to pull faster and faster until reaching its maximum boost. The moment the car hit the rev limiter Takumi backed off the throttle.

"Perfect, we need to do that a couple more times just to get the data readings needed."

After repeating the test a couple more times Takumi then settled the Skyline into a steady cruise at the speed limit.


	7. Chapter 6

After a couple of hours the trio pulled up outside a wooden gate. After a few moments the gate swung open revealing what was basically an Aladdin's cave for racers. If you could imagine it then it was probably parked either on the white gravel that took up the majority of the yard or was hidden away in one of the numerous garages.

"We'll need to go into that workshop to the left of the house" Josh said pointing to the open door to the workshop. "She's cleared space so just pull us straight in."

After a few moments Takumi pulled the Skyline to a halt in the centre of the workshop. The workshop was a far superior setup to that of Josh's, although it was obvious that it was used regularly everything was spotlessly clean.

Josh exited the car first quickly followed by Takumi and Itsuki. "Huh she was meant to be here by now."

Moments after Josh's phone buzzed with a text message.

'Hi mate, got stuck with a customer, gonna be a while yet. Grab whatever car you want, you know the combo to the key safe anyway -A'

"Well that explains that one then. I know exactly what car we can take."

Walking over to the key safe Josh tapped in the code and swung open the door, taking a key with a red Honda badge on it and replacing it with the key to the Skyline.

"Righto, now to find where she's hidden the damn thing. Can you two have a wander round, if you see a black Civic Type R shout as that's what we are after."

After a few minutes of looking in the garages and all corners of the yard Itsuki realised he had found the black Civic Type R.  
"Over here" he shouted making sure he had got the attention of both Takumi and Joshua.

Nearly sprinting over to where Itsuki was Joshua was struggling to contain his excitement.

"I've wanted to drive this thing since she got it!" he exclaimed. "It's very far from standard, I think last time she did a power run it read just under 400hp!"

"400hp from a Civic!?" Takumi exclaimed. "That's crazy."

"It puts it all down too, the amount of boost it gives varies by the gear you are in so it doesn't spin up."

"That's amazing" Takumi replied, looking awestruck at the thought of so much power in such a small car.

The trio climbed into the Civic and Joshua turned the key firing up the Turbocharged K20. Putting the car into first he crept out of the parking space and towards the gates which swung open automatically as the car approached them.

Joshua turned towards the highway and accelerated up to speed, giving the car time to warm up.

About half an hour later Joshua pulled the Civic into a rest area just off the highway. Seeing a gathering of cars towards the back of the car park he manoeuvred the civic in their direction and parked up next to a Yellow Nissan Z32.

Upon seeing the Civic a few people in the crowd began to laugh.

"Ha look at that, someone is stupid enough to believe a Civic is actually going to be any good at the Wangan."

This drew a few more laughs from the group. Hearing the comment Joshua walked over to the culprit of the dig at the Civic.

"So what is it you drive?" he asked the man who it was apparent was the leader of the group.

"That Yellow Z32 you've parked your Rice Box next to."

"Rice box you say…" Josh Sniggered "Lets race."

"Ok bring it rice boy" The owner of the Z32 laughed which was quickly followed by a roar of laughter from the crowd.

Walking back towards the Civic Josh turned to Takumi and Itsuki

"Are you guys ok to stay here while we race? If it was a mountain pass I would have no issue with you riding along but on the Wangan the speeds reached are extremely dangerous."

"Yeah that's fine" Takumi replied despite the protests of Itsuki.

Seeing the driver of the Z32 moving towards his own car Josh took that as his cue to start the Civic. After letting the car idle briefly Josh made sure to give a couple of rather large revs ensuring that the sound of the turbo could be heard.

Seeing the owner of the Z32 freeze at the sound of the turbo amused Josh. Winding down the window he took it as his opportunity to taunt the Z32 owner.

"What's wrong? You aren't afraid of a little rice box are you?"

The Z32 owner completely ignored Josh's dig at him and stepped into his own car before starting the engine and driving towards the exit of the Services.

Josh followed cue making sure to flick the little switch which put the Civic into its high boost mode.

Seeing the Z32 floor it onto the Wangan Josh gave off a small laugh. 'This is going to be easy, he's already shown his cars maximum acceleration, I'll just tail him for a while and make it look like I'm struggling to keep up, make him think he's got an easy victory.'

Seeing that he was pulling away from the Civic the driver of the Z32 laughed, "Ha why was I so afraid of a little rice burner, even with a turbo it's still too weak to keep up with my Z32. Bring a proper car to the Wangan not a toy."

Both cars streaked along the Wangan at speeds approaching 210KPH, the few cars and trucks which were driving normally on the highway were barely a blur as the Civic and Z32 flew past at extreme speeds.

After what seemed like a life time sat behind the Z32 Josh realised they were rapidly closing upon the goal that marked the finish line of the Wangan battle. "Time to show him the error of his ways" Josh muttered out loud to himself.

He then planted the throttle for the first time during the race resulting in all 400HP finally being unleashed. It took a moment for the Z32 driver to realise that the Civic had suddenly gained a massive amount of speed and by that time it was too late for him to do anything about it.

The driver of the Z32 was furious as the Civic sailed past him and passed the goal at a higher speed than his car could ever manage. "HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OF ME!" he roared unable to do anything about his crushing defeat.

Because of the gap which he had pulled on the Z32 Josh had enough time to pull back into the services and pull up next to Takumi and Itsuki just as the Z32 came flying into the services at high speed before screeching to a halt behind the Civic.

"Takumi, Itsuki get in, we need to go."

Seeing that the crowd were moving toward them and not looking too happy the pair jumped into the Civic as quickly as they could. Takumi had barely closed the door when Josh launched the civic out of the parking spot.

"What did you do to annoy them so much?" Takumi asked once they were safely out of the Services and back on Wangan.

"I humiliated their leader, I basically let him lead for pretty much the entire race and then passed him at a point where he had no way of making a comeback."

"Isn't that just racing tactics?" Takumi pondered for a moment, "I've done that before."

"On the mountain pass that is considered a legitimate move as it shows you are the better driver however on the Wangan because a big portion of the races is how much power your car has, sandbagging until the very end and then using superior power to win is considered deeply disrespectful and in this case also humiliating."

"Ah I understand…" Takumi sniggered, "So the Wangan racers simply rely on the power of their engines not their driving ability."

"Guys like the ones we just met do. Some of them can actually drive though. There is one racer who drives a RUF CTR known as the Blackbird. I was hoping to track him down tonight. Apparently my 240Z was his most fierce rival. Enough about that anyway, we are in Tokyo, let's go find somewhere to eat. I'll pick up the tab to make up for leaving you in that parking area for so long."

A short while later they pulled up outside Daiichi hotel in Tokyo. "I've wanted to come to this place for ages, they've got a world buffet and I've been hankering some of the food from back home recently. Don't worry about the price, like I said, I'm buying." Josh said beaming.

As they were getting out of the car Josh's phone buzzed. 'Cheeky sod taking the Civic. Skyline isn't going to be done tonight I'm afraid mate.'

Josh quickly tapped in reply ' No worries, can you bring it to Akina 10PM Saturday night for me? Getting the wee beasty out for a play'.

The reply was simply a Thumbs up. With that the Trio made their way into the buffet.


	8. Chapter 7

The next couple of days were uneventful, Takumi completed his nightly deliveries while greatly looking forward to Saturday Night. Word had spread around Gunma that there was going to be an R34 GTR Z Tune running the downhill of Akina, only five people knew the real star of the show on Saturday night.

Come Saturday night Mt Akina was a hive of activity. Anyone who had even a passing interest in cars was at Akina.

'This is crazy, I've never seen Akina this packed even when the most popular races were going ahead, to think this is for that Z Tune, wait until everyone sees the car I'm getting to drive' Takumi thought to himself as he cruised towards the Summit of Akina in his GT86.

Luckily being friends with the Speed Stars had its perks and they had kept a space for him to park as well as keeping a big clearing for when Joshua arrived. As Takumi pulled his GT86 into the spot next to Iketani's S13 the crowd of Speed Stars looked shocked at Takumi's new car.

"Oops I didn't tell anyone about this" Takumi sniggered to himself.

Before anyone had chance to approach however Takumi spotted the reason the majority of people had come to Akina, the Skyline Z Tune pulled up in the parking spot left for it.

The crowd were shocked when instead of Joshua McRae, a slim blonde woman climbed out of the driver's seat.

Takumi was the first one to reach the new arrival. "Hi, I'm Takumi, I'm driving Josh's other car tonight."

"Pleasure, I'm Abi, Josh said he's running a bit late but shouldn't be too much longer."

A few moments later FD RX7 owned by the Keisuke Takahashi pulled into the parking area, and pulled to a stop in the space which was quickly cleared by the speed stars.

First to step out was Keisuke Takahashi very quickly followed by Ryosuke Takahashi.

"This is a big crowd gathered to see the Z Tune run, the excitement in the air is so strong" Keisuke stated to Ryosuke.

Ryosuke sniggered "Just wait until they see Fujiwara run in a WRC car, the galleries will explode."

During this time Abi had opened the bonnet to the Z Tune allowing people to see the Nismo race engine which was the beating heart of the Japanese icon.

After 15 minutes Takumi was beginning to get worried. "Abi? Any idea where he is?"

"I think that will answer your question" Abi laughed as a covered car transporter pulling a trailer came to a stop on the road.

On a trailer was the RenaultSport Clio belonging to Joshua McRae.

"Sorry I'm late" Josh stated as he climbed out of the transporter. "I had a puncture."

"No worries" Takumi replied as Josh walked to the trailer and began to pull out the ramps to allow the Clio to be driven off.

Once the ramps were removed he then loosened the straps tethering the Clio to the trailer. After a few moments he climbed into the car and disengaged the handbrake so that he could slowly roll the car onto the road before firing up the engine and moving it into the space next to the Skyline Z Tune.

Once this was done he then turned to the Speed Stars, "Could you guys help me to move the trailer out of the way, I've got one more car that I need to unload, I think everyone here is going to like this."

A few minutes later Joshua and a few members of the Speed Stars had rolled the trailer into an unused corner of the parking area. Joshua then flipped the switch on the transporter to begin moving the tailgate into position where the car could be loaded onto it.

Because of how the transporter was positioned only a few people could see what was inside when the tailgate had moved enough to allow them to see, however the moment those that could see inside did their jaws dropped at the site of a WRC Spec Subaru Impreza.

Once the ramp was in position Josh climbed into the back of the transporter and opened the driver door of the Impreza prior to lowering himself into the car. After a few moments he flicked the ignition switches and then pressed the button to bring the World Rally Car to life.

The look of confusion on the crowd quickly changed to one of Shock as Josh reversed the car onto the tailgate and lowered it to the ground.

"That's a WRC Car!" could be heard exclaimed from more than one person in the crowd.

Once the tailgate touched down Josh then proceeded to reverse the Impreza from the car lift and manoeuvred it to park behind the Clio before climbing out and walking back over to the Transporter to raise the tail lift.

Once the lift had returned to its closed position Josh moved the Transporter next to the trailer out of the way of the night's proceedings.

After making his way back towards the parked cars Josh then approached Takumi.

"Takumi, once the exhibition of the Skyline and Impreza are done with I was wondering if you would be willing to have a downhill race, your GT86 vs. my Clio."

"Of… Of course" Takumi stammered, surprised at Josh's request.

"Thank you, either way the result won't mean anything for our friendship, I think it will be very close indeed if our pace when you were in your Father's car was anything to go by."

Walking over to the Skyline Josh then proceeded to announce the evening's proceedings.

"First of all we will hold an exhibition demonstrating the Performance of both the Skyline and the Impreza, I will be driving the Skyline and Fujiwara will be driving the Impreza. We won't be racing each other in these cars. The performance disparity would be too great. Instead it will be one car at a time attacking the downhill course and then once both cars reach the bottom we will return to the top at reduced speed to allow the best view of the cars to spectators."

Josh paused, allowing the crowd time to take in what he had just told them before he proceeded to drop the bombshell.

"Once the exhibition is completed there will be a 1v1 downhill battle. It will be Takumi Fujiwara in his brand new Toyota GT86 vs. Me in my RenaultSport Clio 182…" Josh laughed to himself momentarily. "For those of you that don't know who I am, my name is Joshua McRae."

The crowd went silent the moment they heard Joshua's surname, many making the connection straight away.


	9. Chapter 8

The Skyline and Impreza were lined up together at the start of the course. Takumi began to strap himself into the Driver seat of the Impreza.

"Ok Takumi, remember with Stage Mode activated you will have no engine braking but the Antilag system will mean that you are instantly in the power band when you step on the throttle. It will handle very similarly to your Father's car but it is much lighter so you can attack the corners with more aggression."

"Ok I understand I'll take it easy for the first few corners to get a feel for the car and then attack from there."

With that Takumi began the switch sequence to fire up the WRC Impreza and once the car had a settled into a smooth idle pressed the button which engaged stage mode.

"Ok ready to begin." Takumi shouted to Joshua.

Takumi then engaged launch control and held the throttle and clutch to build the boost up to allow the Impreza to leave the line at maximum speed.

Once the car reached peak boost Takumi released the clutch pedal allowing the car to explode away from the starting point, the sequential gearbox allowing near instant gear changes.

As Takumi reached the first corner Josh prepared to follow in the Skyline. Starting the engine Josh allowed it to idle briefly before giving a large rev.

'I wonder what it'll feel like with these tweaks Abi has made' Josh thought to himself. He floored the throttle before releasing the clutch causing the Skyline to explode away from the line, all four wheels spinning.

Despite Josh driving flat out there was no chance of the Skyline catching up to Takumi in the WRC Spec Impreza, at the pace he was driving Takumi was going to beat the Mt Akina record by at least 30 seconds.

"This car is amazing" Takumi shouted to himself, the stress of the G Force the car was capable of was showing on his face.

Approaching the hairpins at speeds he had never done before Takumi's face was one of pure bliss. 'If this is what the professional drivers get to experience all the time then I know what I want!'

With that Takumi threw the Impreza into the turn and hooked the inside wheels into the gutter allowing him to take the hairpins at full throttle with only minimal loss of speed.

Meanwhile Josh was pushing the skyline to its limits. There was no chance of matching the time Takumi was about to set but even the time Josh was going to achieve in the Skyline smashed the previous record by 10 seconds.

The crowd were stood silent, awestruck by the speed which both cars were attacking the course.

"They can't keep this speed up!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Tell that to the drivers, no one has ever driven Mt Akina at such high speed." replied another.

A few minutes later Takumi and Josh were both stopped at the end of the course. Smoke pouring off the brakes on both cars, tyres ripped to shreds.

A member of the Speed Stars who had been in charge of timings came over to the drivers.

"Josh, you beat the previous record set by Takumi by 10 seconds…"

"Awesome!" exclaimed Josh

"However Takumi, driving the WRC Spec Subaru Impreza…"

The Speed Stars member took a deep breath in.

"Takumi. You smashed the previous record set by yourself by 45 seconds."

"What!?" Takumi exclaimed shocked at how much time he had beaten his previous best by.

"So Takumi, are you going to making the jump to professional racing then? You seem like you'd be extremely competitive." Josh coyly asked Takumi.

"I was undecided until tonight" Takumi replied  
"However after driving this car I've made the decision, I want to become a professional racing driver."

"You'll go far Takumi." Replied Josh, a massive grim on his face.

"We should probably head back up to the start. I think we've promised everyone a race to remember"

"Indeed we have" replied Takumi.

With that the drivers made their way back to the cars and drove back to the top of Akina at the same speed as normal traffic allowing the gallery of spectators to get the best view possible of the cars.

Upon reaching the top both drivers parked their cars in the best position for the crowd to get up close to them.

Josh had already let Abi know to move the Clio and GT86 into position on the start and to leave the cars idling allowing them to get up to temperature.

"Ok!" Josh addressed the crowd

"It is time for tonight's race. This will be a single round race, we will start in equal positions, and first to the bottom is winner."

With that both drivers entered their cars and made sure they were fully strapped in.

Abi was to start the race, before getting into position she made her way to the driver's window of the Clio.

"Be careful Josh, I've got a bad feeling about this race."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Besides if I stack it I've always got you to rebuild it for me"

With that Abi made her way into the starting position between the two cars.

"Ready!" Abi asked while pointing at both cars. Both drivers nodded to confirm they were ready.

"GO!" Abi yelled

Both cars roared away from the line. Takumi at first pulling a slight lead thanks to the traction advantage given by RWD. As soon as the Clio gained grip however it's racing gearbox allowed Josh to claw back alongside Takumi thanks to being able to flat shift.

Both cars reached the first corner still side by side, Separated by mere inches. This continued for the next few corners before Takumi was able to claw ahead a lead.

'Now the race really begins' Josh thought to himself and grinned before flooring the accelerator.

Unbeknownst to Josh the rear left wheel bearing was starting to collapse on itself.

Takumi glanced behind worriedly 'Something's changed about his driving. There is an aura I've never seen before.'

Both cars stormed through then next series of corners, not even an inch between bumpers.

The only noises heard were the sounds of screeching tyres and screaming engines, both cars being pushed within an inch of their lives to keep up the extreme pace.

As they rounded the fast left hander Josh felt the first hint that something wasn't right with the car, a faint vibration was starting to be transmitted through the chassis by the failing wheel bearing. The vibration was so slight that it wouldn't be picked up by most people however to an experienced racer it was the first sign of a developing issue.

'What's that vibration? It only feels slight but it's coming from the back of the car. I'm not going to worry for the moment. I'll investigate the issue after the race'

Back at the start line the Speed Stars and Takahashi brothers were listening to the radio reports of the race.

"The cars are driving so close together… there is no gap visible between the front of the Clio and rear of the 86, surely they can't keep this up!?" came the shaky voice through the radio.

"I've got a bad feeling about this race brother" Keisuke quietly said to Ryosuke.

"They are both brilliant drivers but no one can push as hard as they both are without a high risk of something going wrong, if not a mistake then some form of mechanical failure, not even high spec race cars are designed to take the abuse the downhill at these speeds places on them."

Ryosuke pondered a moment. "You may be right, this is the reason I've placed our team on standby ready to respond instantly if anything were to go wrong. It's a precaution I've been taking for Fujiwara's last few races due to the intensity of them."

Moments later the radio sparked back into life. "There's something wrong with the Renault, it's making a high pitched screeching noise, the driver can't have noticed though as he's pushing Fujiwara harder than we've ever seen!"

Keisuke grabbed the radio "WE NEED TO STOP THE RACE!" he roared before going back to a normal level.  
"Try to signal the drivers to abort the race, there is no point risking lives for an exhibition."

A few moments pass before the next radio call.

"We've tried signalling them but they are pushing so hard they aren't seeing our signals. They are coming up to the fast right which goes suddenly into a sharp left, neither car has shown any sign of slowing."

Josh had known for a few corners that the issue with the Clio was beginning to develop into something worse, the loud screeching noise was barely audible inside the car but on the previous right hand turn had become just about loud enough for Josh to pick it up. With how hard both Josh and Takumi were pushing however the thought never even crossed his mind to back off and abandon the race, the only thing that mattered was getting ahead of the GT86.

As he threw the car into the fast right ready to dive on the brakes a slight wobble occurred, knocking Josh out of his concentrated state. Before he could react however the rear left wheel completely locked up. "Oh shit!" Josh shouted as the back end of the Clio span round too fast for him to react, the front bumper just clipping the rear Bumper of Takumi's GT86 before the car slid backwards into the barrier destroying the rear left of the Clio.

At this point Josh was little more than a passenger, as the car rebounded off the barrier and straight towards the passenger side of Takumi's GT86.

Takumi realising what was about to happen floored the throttle of the GT86 managing to force the car out of the way of the out of control Clio.

The Clio then smashed head on into the barrier before the supports holding the Armco up failed causing Josh's car to plunge off the road into the vegetation below. As it was sliding down the hill one of the wheels dug in causing the car to roll multiple times down the bank before coming to rest on its roof.

"THE RENAULT CRASHED!" screamed the voice through the radio.

(To be continued when I get rid of my writers block (no idea when as I got to this point months ago but I do hope I can finish this)


	10. Author Note

Hi Guys,

First of all, for those of you that have taken the time to, I just wanted to say thank you for reading my fan fic so far. First time I've ever actually written anything like this.

I apologise for any poor spelling, grammatical errors, poor use of words etc. This has mostly been written between dealing with customers at work. I actually got the story to the point it is in about November, possibly even before then. But after the crash I simply can't think of anything more to put.

Funnily enough I've actually ended up owning a Black Gold Clio 182 similar to the one Joshua McRae drives. Sadly it isn't anywhere near the spec of Josh's car. I had a Blue Clio 172 Cup at the time of writing the fan fic and then later on I had a Mini JCW.

The Turbo EP3 was written into the story as a nod to my friend's car. He unfortunately hit a wall at Silverstone, he has just completed a reshell of the car and the 400hp stated in the story is what the car was dyno'd at when it was built by TDi North.

Again, thank you for reading. Please feel free to give me suggestions on how to move forward from the point of Josh's crash. It always annoys me when I find a good fan fic and then it never gets finished. At least now I can see why. It's difficult to decide what to do.

Cheers

Luke


	11. Chapter 9

_**Just wanted to appologise for leaving it hanging previously. Not a massive update, still really struggling for ideas but this is what I've managed to write following Josh's crash. It's just over 500 words which is a pretty poor show but at least there is an update. Just trying to find time to sit down and watch initial D again. Thank you to everyone who has read this so far.**_

"He's waking up… Josh can you hear me?"

" _Yeah Abi… where are we?"_ Josh replied groggily.

"I'm afraid, you are in your favourite place… The hospital" Replied Abi

" _Great. I think I did a proper job on the Clio didn't I. How long have I been out?"_

"Three days, you should see your face right now, you look like you've gone 12 rounds with Anthony Joshua." Abi chuckled.

" _That bad huh, well hopefully my dashing good looks will recover"_ Josh stated before he started laughing.

His laughing unfortunately was cut short by a sudden stab of pain

"Yeah I probably should have mentioned the broken ribs" Abi chuckled

" _I hate you sometimes"_ Josh snorted

Just at that moment Josh's doctor walked in to the room.

"Ah Mr McRae I'm glad to see you are awake. I'm Dr Shima, I've been your attending physician for the past three days."

" _Pleasure to meet you Dr, thank you for everything you have done for me."_ Josh replied

"You were very lucky, the safety devices of your car worked as well as they could considering the severity of the impact. You suffered with minor swelling of the brain hence the medically induced coma as well as three broken ribs. From what I've been lead to believe the impact shifted the entire chassis allowing your harness to slacken enough for you to impact with the steering wheel of the car when the impact forced the steering column back slightly. In a normal road car you wouldn't have survived."

" _Well I guess that answers my question of the car being repairable. Man I liked that car too, had it imported over from England."_ Josh stated glumly.

"I know your pain, I am partial to cars myself and always hate to see anything happen to a car when someone has spent lots of time on it." Replied Dr Shima

" _Thank you Dr, I take it you drive something interesting then?"_

"Yes I suppose you could say so, I drive a Ruf CTR Yellowbird."

Josh suddenly looked very bemused.

" _You know. I've been looking for the driver of a Ruf CTR which races on the Wangan. Apparently the car is known as Blackbird and is the main rival of a car I acquired around six months ago. I've heard rumours about this car of mine and it's rivalry with Blackbird. I've also heard rumours about what the car is known as. The rumoured name of the car is"_

"Devil Z" Dr Shima cut Josh off with.

Josh chuckled " _Whoever first said the world is a small place spoke a lot of sense, who'd have thought the doctor who treated me after having the biggest crash of my life would just happen to own the Blackbird"_

"Indeed, life has a funny way of drawing people together" Dr Shima replied.

" _So when am I going to get out of here anyway Doctor?"_

"Please call me Tatsuya, all being well you should be able to return home within the next week, I'm afraid however it's going to be a couple of months before you can be signed off as medically fit to drive again."

" _Oh man my boss is going to kill me…_

 _Abi…_

 _I don't suppose you could make a couple of phone calls for me?"_


	12. Chapter 10

_I apologise for how long it has been since the last update. Life kind of just got in the way of me posting anything. A recent near death experience has made me think how I hate that I'm leaving this unfinished. I'm going to be completely honest. I'm literally writing this chapter as it comes to me without any thought so potentially may end up removing it. If I do though I'll keep it and post it as a blooper kind of thing once I eventually finish this story. So without further ado here is my attempt at chapter 10._

'It's been a weird 6 months' Josh thought to himself, his mind flashing back to that fateful night on Akina. "Today is the day I'm declared medically fit to drive again" he exclaimed out loud to himself. Looking out of the window of his childhood home Josh pondered how much he had missed Japan, as soon as he was well enough to travel his parents had him flown home to Scotland, despite being reluctant to he still knew how much the loss of his Uncle had affected his parents and knew the fact they had nearly lost him as well meant he would honour their wishes, at least until he had the freedom to drive again.

'Guess I better start making arrangements for my return to Japan' Josh pondered for a moment before walking over to his desk and turning on his laptop. "I can't wait to see Abi again!" he exclaimed. After browsing the available options Josh settled on a flight leaving for Japan in 3 days…

 _Japan 12 hours later_

Takumi was just about to set out for the nightly Tofu delivery when his phone buzzed.

 _Hi Takumi its Joshua McRae, I'm flying back into Tokyo on Thursday and was wondering if there was any chance you could collect me from the airport._

Takumi replied immediately; _Of course Josh. Let me know what time and terminal and I'll be there._

The response from Josh came through within 30 seconds; _Fantastic! I'll message you the rest of the details when I get home later. I was wondering if you'd be able to swing by my unit and pull a certain blue Nissan out of storage. I want to mark my return to Japan by reigniting a legend._

The next two days flew by with Josh preparing for his return to Japan. The flight was also completely uneventful with Josh managing to sleep for a majority of the long haul flight. Because he only travelled with hand luggage it meant he was able to walk straight out of the airport once security had been dealt with.

As if on cue as the door to exit the terminal opened, he heard the distinctive sound of a turbo charged, extremely high powered L28 engine decelerating to pull up at the collection point of the terminal. After allowing a moment for the engine to settle Takumi cut off the ignition and climbed out of the car.

"Takumi!" Josh exclaimed "It's been far too long"

"It has indeed" Takumi replied. "I brought the Z as you asked and it has a full tank of high octane fuel"

"Fantastic, I am ashamed to say the only miles I've done in this car were driving it to my unit after purchasing it from the previous owner." Josh sighed, "I'd like to stretch its legs and see what it is really capable of. From what I've been told it was one of the fastest cars on the Wangan so I'd like to go try that out."

With that Josh climbed into the driver seat and allowed Takumi time to climb into the passenger side and fasten his 6 point racing harness. As soon as that was done Josh pulled away from the Terminal and set course for the wangan.

35 minutes later on the Bay Bridge a lone black sports car navigated its way through the light traffic. Tatsuya pondered to himself 'I've got a feeling which I haven't had for a long time, something called me to the Wangan tonight, some strange urge in the back of my mind that I am unable to control, the last time I felt this way was the final race I had with Devil Z, when Akio declared that he letting the Z go before it destroyed him.'

A quick glance in his mirror confirmed what his heart had been telling him for the last few miles. The headlights which began as a faint glow in the distance were getting closer and closer at a high rate of speed. A rate of speed that only one car was capable of. Tatsuya smiled. "Devil Z, we meet again" he said, addressing himself but also his rival.

Joshua McRae grinned and turned to Takumi "I was hoping for this, do you know what that car is?"

"It looks like a Porsche 911" Takumi replied

"Yes it does, looks can be deceiving though, that's no 911. That is a RUF CTR Blackbird. The famous Blackbird of the Wangan. There is only one car that comes close to the Blackbird." Josh laughed "We're currently sat in it".

Takumi grimaced and thought to himself 'I sense a battle is about to occur'

As if reading Takumi's mind Josh stated to him "Hold on Takumi, this is about to turn serious"

With that sentence he pulled on the stalk to flash the headlights of the Z, signalling to Blackbird he wanted to race.

As if synchronised both drivers dropped through their gears and floored the throttles…


End file.
